… The ultimate mission for any webmaster or blogger.
I have been asked about traffic a few times and the best ways to increase it. The first part of my answer is always a question:
“What kind of traffic?”
I usually get a blank look - implying that I’m probably the last person the questioner should have asked and they would probably have elicited a more useful response from a sock. That is, until I clarify…
“Do you want targeted traffic, or poorly converting traffic?”
Of course, the answer is targeted traffic… Knowing this, you can immediately discount link farms and submission to “paid to click” sites – they are poor sources of traffic at best and, at worst will hammer your search rankings.
One thing I get sick of hearing is “Content is King” – and I’m definitely not the only one. It’s true, but what if you have the content? What if the problem is having no visitors?
A good checklist to follow is:
Search engine URL submissions – Google, Yahoo, Bing & Ask are the ones to hit first, but there are many more out there…
SEO – There are hundreds of tutorials and tools online. My current favourite is W3Optimizer Online SEO Tool – there are free tools for checking your website’s SEO score (Or for less than $10 a month, you can get incredibly detailed reports on your site and those of your competitors).
Directory submissions – Directories are a great way to build relevant backlinks to your site, improving your search engine ranking. DMOZ, the Yahoo directory and Alexa should be your priorities. In addition, if you search for “gambling link directory”, you will find a wealth of sites that will host a link to your page(s). (Clearly, if you are not promoting a gambling site, search for directories related to your site’s subject area…)
Social networking marketing – Got a Facebook, MySpace, Bebo or Twitter account? Why not tell people about your content?
Free traffic sites – Be careful with these. A lot of “targeted” traffic sites are poor. However, Traffic Swarm is a good place to start. I’ve signed up with them for a free account, and I’m certainly liking the results so far. If you wish, you may pay for a “Pro” account, but it’s far from necessary.
Blogging – If you run a website without a blog, why not set one up? Blogging is a powerful tool for increasing your exposure online.
Article Submission Directories – If you write articles for your new/existing blog, why not syndicate them through an article directory? When your articles are distributed, any links to your homepage will remain intact, sending some link juice to your primary site, while letting more people know about your excellent content… Ezine Articles is a good place to start, but (as always) there are many, many more!
This list is by no means an exhaustive list (there just isn’t space!), but I hope you find it useful.
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